Cigarettes, cigars and pipes are popular smoking articles that employ tobacco in various forms. Such smoking articles are used by heating or burning tobacco, and aerosol (e.g., smoke) is inhaled by the smoker. Tobacco also may be enjoyed in a so-called “smokeless” form. Particularly popular smokeless tobacco products are employed by inserting some form of processed tobacco or tobacco-containing formulation into the mouth of the user. More recently, popular so-called “electronic cigarettes” employ electrically generated heat to provide vapors incorporating tobacco components for inhalation. See, for example, those types of tobacco products described in the background art set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 7,503,330 to Borschke et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,726,320 to Robinson et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 9,204,667 to Cantrell et al.; and US Pat. Pub. No. 2015/0223522 to Ampolini et al., which are incorporated herein by reference.
Tobacco that has been grown and harvested is subjected to curing and aging processes prior to being used for the production of tobacco products. Various traditional types of curing and aging processes are described in Tobacco Production, Chemistry and Technology, Davis et al. (Eds.) p. 346 (1999). Of particular interest within the tobacco industry are curing processes that are characterized as being air curing, flue curing or fire curing processes. See, for example, those types of curing processes, methodologies and techniques proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,404,406 to Peele; U.S. Pat. No. 7,650,892 to Groves et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 8,800,571 to Borschke et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 9,016,285 to Riddick; Nestor et al., Beitrage Tabakforsch. Int., 20, 467-475 (2003); Roton et al., Beitrage Tabakforsch. Int., 21, 305-320 (2005) and Staaf et al., Beitrage Tabakforsch. Int., 21, 321-330 (2005), which are incorporated herein by reference. See, also, those types of curing processes proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,293,564 to Perfetti et al., U.S. Pat. No. 9,066,538 to Chen et al., and US Pat. Pub. No. 2015/0366261 to Mocelin et al.; which are incorporated herein by reference.
The types of processes and conditions required for tobacco curing may vary, and include air curing, flue curing, fire curing, and other curing processes. It would be desirable to provide systems and methods for monitoring the environmental conditions of tobacco curing sites within which tobacco may be cured.